To date, I've only reviewed one other trail mix. My narrow-minded trail mix philosophy goes something like this - once you've had one trail mix you've had them all, more or less. Yes, of course there are seasonal varieties. Pumpkin spice. Apple harvest. Tropical sunburst or whatever variety with dried pineapple or something. Some have chocolate. Some don't. Frankly the only things I really care about is spending the least amount of money for the most value and taste. More bang for my buck, because the only thing I like more than spending money is saving it.
I happen to like pistachios. They rank high on my nut hierarchy. Unfortunately cashews rank low at a few notches above brazil nuts. So although I could care less for cashews, I got this one because of the almonds and pistachios. And chocolate. Who can forget the chocolate.
TJ's has a bunch of different trail mixes, but not all of them come in prepackaged portions. If you lack self-control or require the convenience of individual packs, expect to pay at least $0.50 more. This one was $6.49, which is on the middle-high end of the TJ's trail mix selection.
This is about one serving size, which comes out to about a handful (depending on the size of your hand!). I happen to like the flavor balance of this trail mix best out of all the ones I've tried. There's nicely salted but not overly salted almonds and pistachios (the cashews I tolerate as mentioned above) offset by the tartness of the cherries and cranberries (can hardly tell them apart. They're both reddish and smushed) with a spattering of sweet milk chocolate. A little bit of everything to keep you going through a hike. Or a hopefully happy trek. Or a proverbial one because it is way too cold outside to be hiking. And if your trek ain't happy, perhaps a little bit of trail mix with chocolate can make it happier.
Extra points or an extra $0.50 in your pocket if you can pick this up instead of the pre-portioned ones. Consider yourself an overachiever if you open this an divvy it up in little baggies and a hipster overachiever if you divvy it up in mini mason jars. I recommend doing that if you lack self-control, because trail mix is extremely caloric (but chockfull of protein and healthy fats and blah blah blah. Great in moderation).
I surprised myself at the amount of self-control I had with this trail mix. Perhaps it's my ambivalence toward trail mix that actually kicks into gear here. There is something about nicely salty and crunchy junkie junk foods that bypasses reasonable thought and triggers the desire monster that screams GIMME MOAARRRR. But the new year-me hopes to defeat the old me and my salty-crunchy-devouring ways. Trail mix it is.
TL;DR: Trader Joe's Happy Trekking Almonds, Cashews, Pistachios, Chocolate, Cranberries & Cherries. Crunchy-ish with a bit of sweetness for a satisfying healthier snack. Trek happy y'all. 8 out of 10.
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